Punching tool assembly



United States Patent Inventor Dennis Daniels Williamsville, New York Appl. No. 696,027 Filed Jan. 5, 1968 i Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 629,335, Feb. 6, 1967, Pat. No. 3,449,991, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 528,856, Feb. 21, i966, abandoned. Patented Sept. 29, I970 Assignee l-loudaille Industries, Inc., a corporation of Delaware PUNCHING TOOL ASSEMBLY 18 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 83/141, 83/685, 83/698 Int. Cl 826d 1/00, B26f 1/14 Field of Search 83/136,

I41, 686, 687, 688, 689, 698, I39, I40, 685

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,079,824 3/1963 Schott 83/686X 3,211,035 10/1965 Whistler et al. 83/139 3,296,905 l/1967 Killaly 83/698X Primary Examiner-William S. Lawson Assistant ExaminerJames F. Coan Attorney-Hill, Shen'nan, Meroni, Gross and Simpson ABSTRACT: A tool assembly comprising a die member, a stripper sleeve, and a punch nestable together as a unit for use in a press. When nested, the punch is retained in the stripper sleeve and movable relative to the sleeve so that the punch extends into the die member. The die member has the greatest diameter of the parts of the assembly. The punch has an attachment portion received by gripping arms of a punch drive assembly to form a connection therewith.

Patented Sept. 29, 1970 3,530,750

Q ATTORNEYS I, M @KW PUNCHING TOOL ASSEMBLY RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of my application for U.S. Patent on a Punch Press." filedon Feb. 6, I967. Ser. No. 629,335. now U.S. Pat. No. 3,449.99] which is a continuation-in-part of my application for U.S. Patent on a Punch Press, filed Feb. 21, I966, Ser. No. 528.856 which is now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is directed to a tool assembly particularly one comprising a die member, punch, and stripper sleeve and a punch drive assembly used therewith.

2. Prior Art In punch presses. a problem of performing a rapid tool change with a minimum amount of press downtime has arisen Heretofore tool assemblies comprise a punch and a stripper sleeve which is handled as one unit and a die member which is handled as a second unit which lengthens construction time necessary for tool changing since both units must be loaded and unloaded individually.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The tool assembly includes a punch with an attachment means which punch is nestable in a stripper sleeve with the punch extending through the aperture of a stripper plate on the sleeve into the aperture of a die member and jointly provide a single assembly which may be handled as a unit and loaded or unloaded from a press in a single operation. The punch drive assembly has gripping means to form a connection with the tool assembly.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a tool assembly which can be loaded into and unloaded from a press as a unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a construction which can be standardized as to external dimensions for interchange with a similar construction having differing cutting dimensions for the punch and die.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a punch drive assembly of a standard dimension for connection to a tool assembly having a standardized outer dimension with interchangeable punches and dies of different cutting dimensions.

Many other advantages, novel features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifested to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and accompanying sheets of drawings in which preferred structural embodiments incorporating the principles of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative examples.

ON THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a tool assembly constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention disposed in a press;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the tool assembly of FIG. 1, with portions in elevation, arranged as a nested unit;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view in reduced scale of a modified larger form of the tool assembly, the die being omitted;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a third embodiment of the tool assembly; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the tool assembly.

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS ture generally indicated at 16 which includes a head portion 17 and a neck portion 18 of a reduced diameter which interconnects the body portion l4 to the head portion 17. The punch member 11 has a pair of oppositely facing abutments 19 and 21 on a shoulder or annular flange 22. The body portion 15 is also provided with a locating means such as a pin 23 which insures the desired angular alignment of the punch with respect to a press.

The stripper sleeve 12 comprises a cylindrical hollow tube 24 having a stripper plate 25 disposed at one end and an upper retainer 26 disposed at the other end. The punch body portion 14 is movable axially with respect to the stripper sleeve 12 by an amount which is determined by the abutments 19, 21 which coact with the retainer 26 and the stripper plate 25 which pro vides an axial lost-motion connection therebetween, generally indicated at 20. The retainer 26 is an annular ring 27 received in an annular groove 28 on the inner surface or wall 29 of the sleeve 24. The stripper plate 25 has an aperture 31 in which the punch tip 15 projects with clearance so that the punch may move or reciprocate freely through the aperture 31.

The inner wall 29 has an enlarged portion or counterbore 32 which terminates at an internal shoulder or abutment surface 33. Disposed in the enlarged portion 32 is the stripper,

plate 25 with its upper peripheral surface 34 in contact with the shoulder 33. To maintain the plate 25 in the enlarged portion 32, a lower resilient split ring 35 extends between a peripheral groove 36 in the plate 25 and an aligned annular groove 37 in the surface of the enlarged portion 32. The ring 35 may be contracted into the groove 36 to allow the removal of the stripper plate 25 from the enlarged portion 32 to facilitate removal of the punch member 11. When the plate 25 is placed in the enlarged portion 32 and the ring 35 is released, the ring expands into the groove 37 and extends across both the grooves 36 and 37 to hold the stripper plate 25 in the stripper sleeve 12.

The die member 13 has a cup-shape with a thick cylindrical wall 38 and a bottom 39. The bottom 39 has a workpiece-engaging surface 41 and a die aperture 42 which is complementary to the punch tip 15.

The tool assembly 10, when removed from a punch press, has the punch member 11 resting on the stripper plate 25 with the punch tip 15 extending through the aperture 31 of the stripper plate 25 and into and through the die aperture 42 of the die member 13. Gravity holds the parts assembled as shown, and gravity acts to shift the stripper sleeve by the amount permitted by the lost-motion connection 20, when the pans are installed in a press as shown in FIG. 1.

The tool assembly 10 is used in a punch press and is particularly useful in a turret press fragmentarily illustrated in FIG. 1 and generally indicated at 43. The turret press 43 has an upper turret generally indicated at 44 and a lower turret generally indicated at 45. The upper and lower turrets 44 and 45 are spaced apart to provide a space for a workpiece or sheet to pass therebetween. The turrets 44 and 45 are each provided with a plurality of aligned tool stations 46 and 47, respectively. The station 46 of the upper turret 44 is an inner cylindrical surface 48 of a sleeve 49 which is disposed in a cylindrical opening 50, and the station 47 of the lower turret 45 is a cylindrical opening 51 which has a diameter greater than the diameter of the cylindrical surface 48. The opening 50 has a counterbore 52 which receives a flange 53 of the sleeve 49 to prevent the sleeve from moving towards the turret 45.

The die member 13 is received in the opening 51 and has a locating means such as a pin 54 disposed in a passageway or bore 55 in the wall 38. The pin 54 is received in a groove 56 in the opening 51 to insure the correct angular alignment of the die member 13 in the turret press 43. The die member 13 and station 47 have a detent 57 to hold the die member 13 vertically, which detent includes a groove or depression 58 which receives a ball 59 which is urged by a spring 60 into engagement with the depression 58.

. The stripper sleeve 12 and the nested punch member 11 are disposed in the station 46 with the stripper sleeve 12 having a loose fit with the cylindrical surface 48. The stripper sleeve 12 and the punch member 11 are held in the station 46 by a punch drive assembly generally indicated at 61 which is connected to a ram 62 of the turret press 43.

The punch drive assembly 61 has a housing or body portion 63 with an outer surface 64 which is complementary to the cylindrical surface 48. The punch drive assembly 61 is disposed in the sleeve 49 with the outer surface 64 slidably received by the cylindrical surface 48 to guide vertical movement of the punch drive assembly 61 in the station 46.

The housing portion 63 has an internal cavity 65 in which a gripping means generally indicated at 66 is disposed. The gripping means includes a pair of arms 67, 67a each of which is pivotally mounted to the housing portion 63 by a pin 68. The arms 67, 67a each have an inwardly extending tip portion 69 which engages a bottom surface 70 of the head portion 17 of the attachment means 16. Each of the arms 67, 67a is urged inwardly toward the other arm by a spring 71 which extends between each arm 67, 67a and the housing portion 63.

The housing portion 63 has a lower portion 72 which extends past the tips 69, 69 and has an inner surface 73 that encircles and engages a surface 74 of the punch member 11 to guide the punch member against horizontal movement. The lower portion 72 terminates in a lower surface 75 which contacts the abutment surface 21 to transmit movement of the punch drive assembly 61 to the punch member 11. The surface 75 has a groove 76 to receive the pin 23 to insure angular alignment between the punch member 11 and the punch drive assembly 61.

The punch drive assembly 61 has a locating pin 77 which is received in an axially extending groove 78 in the cylindrical surface 48 to prevent rotation of the punch drive assembly 61. The sleeve 49 and the punch drive assembly 61 have a detent 79 which is similar to the detent 57 and is located in the flange 53 to hold the punch drive assembly 61 in an upper position illustrated in FIG. 1.

The housing portion 63 of the punch drive opposite the lower portion 72 has a head portion 80 which includes a pair of oppositely facing grooves 81, 81 and a pair of oppositely extending flanges 82, 82. The ram 62 has a pair of undercuts 83, 83 and a pair of inwardly extending flanges 84, 84 which are both complementary to and receive the grooves 81, 81 and the flanges 82, 82 to form a connection between the ram 62 and the punch drive assembly 61 which becomes disconnected in response to the turrets 44 being rotated with respect to the ram 62.

The ram 62 as illustrated is a ram for a tool loading/unloading station and is provided with an ejection pin 85 which is relatively movable in the vertical direction with respect to the ram 62. The pin 85 has a pointed tip 86 and each of the arms 67, 67a are provided with a cam surface 87 which coacts with the tip 86 to move the arms 67, 67a outwardly to disengage the tips 69, 69 from the head portion 17 of the attachment means 16. To prevent accidental ejection of the punch member 1 1, one of the arms 67 is provided with a stop or projection 88 which contacts the cylindrical surface 48 when the arms 67, 670 are moved outwardly by the ejection pin 85. When the punch drive assembly 61 is moved vertically to a loading/unloading position in the station 46, the stop or projection 88 is received in a depression 89 provided in the cylindrical surface 48 of the sleeve 49 and the arms 67, 67a are both movable to be disengaged from the head 17 of the attachment means 16.

The head 17 of the attachment means 16 has a peripheral cam surface 90 which extends inwardly to a diameter substantially equal to a reduced diameter of the neck portion at 91. The tips 69, 69 of the arms 67, 67a are each provided with a cam or taper surface 93 which is directed toward the lower portion 72 of the housing portion 72 and is complementary to the cam surface 90.

To perform a punching operation with the tool assembly in the press 43, the stations 46, 47 are indexed to a punching ram which is similar in structure to the ram 62 and becomes connected to the head portion of the punch drive assembly 61. The indexing of the stations 46, 47 also positions the station 47 over an apertured bolster plate which prevents the die member 13 from being forced from the station 47 during the punching operation, but allows passage through the aperture of the slug formed by the punching operation. The punch drive assembly 61 is moved toward the lower turret 45 by the punching ram and in turn forces the punch member 11 downwardly into contact with a workpiece positioned on the workpiece engaging surface 41. The stripper sleeve 12 moves with the punch member 11 until the stripper sleeve contacts the workpiece. To grip the workpiece between the stripper sleeve 12 and the surface 41 as the punch tip 15 is being forced into the workpiece, a plurality of stripper pins 94 (shown in FIG. 3) disposed in bores 95 in the housing portion 63 of the punch drive assembly 61 force the stripper sleeve 12 against the workpiece. The stripper pins 94 are urged or biased downwardly by springs or a hydraulic system such as described in my above mentioned copending U.S. application, Ser. No. 629,335. After the punch member 11 has completed the downward movement, the punch drive assembly 61 is moved upwardly by the punching ram to withdraw the punch tip 15 from the workpiece. During upward movement of the punch member 11, the stripper sleeve 12 is still urged against the workpiece to facilitate stripping of the punch tip therefrom. After the punch member 11 has been moved a distance provided by the lost-motion connection 20, the abutment surface 21 engages the retainer 26 to overcome the force applied by the stripper pins 94 and carries the stripper sleeve 12 upwardly to the position illustrated in FIG. 1.

To unload a tool assembly 10 from the turret press 43, the stations 46, 47 are indexed to the tool loader/unloader ram 62 and a tool loader is positioned beneath the turret 45 under the station 47. Then the ram 62 moves the punch drive assembly 61 downwardly to the loading/unloading position to move the punch member 11 and stripper sleeve 12 towards the die member 13. With the punch drive assembly 61 at the loading/unloading station, the punch member 11, stripper sleeve 12 and die member 13 are nested together with the punch tip 15 extending into the die aperture 42. As illustrated the die member is still held in the station 47 by the detent 57; however, the distance to the loading/unloading position for the punch drive assembly 61 could be selected so that the die member 13 would be forced from its position in the station 47 and supported by the tool loader. With the punch drive assembly 61 in the loading/unloading position, a downward movement of the ejection pin causes the arms 67, 67a to move outwardly to disengage from the head 17 of the attachment means 16 and to disconnect the punch member 11 from the punch drive assembly. Once disconnected, the punch member 11 slides downward until its movement is stopped by the die member 13. 1f the die member is still held in the station 47 by the detent 57, further downward movement of the ejection pin 85 will force the punch member 11, stripper sleeve 12 and die member 13 out of the stations 46 and 47 onto the tool loader. Or the ejection pin 85 is retracted to allow the arms 67, 67a to move downwardly past the loading/unloading position to push the tool assembly out of the stations onto the tool loader.

To load a tool assembly 10 into the turret press 43, the stations 46, 47 are indexed to the ram 62 and the punch drive assembly 61 is moved to the loading/unloading position. The tool assembly 10 is disposed on the tool loader which moves upwardly to place the tool assembly into the station 47. The tool loader continues to move the tool assembly upwardly until the cam surface of the head 17 of the die member cams the arms 67, 67a outwardly to allow the head to move past the tip portions 69, 69. Once the head 17 is past the tip portions 69, 69, the springs 71, 71 move the arms 67, 67a inward so that the tips 69, 69 engage the head 17. Then the punch drive assembly 61 moves upwardly to draw the punch member 11 further into the station 46. The abutment 21 engaging the retainer 26 causes the stripper ring 12 to move with the punch member 11 into the station-46. if the die member 13 was not seated in the station 47 while the punch member 11 was attached to the punch drive assembly 61, the tool loader moves the die member 13 upwardly until the ball 59 of the detent 57 engages the depressions 58 to insure the vertical position of the die member 13 in the station 47. The specific structure of the tool loader is the subject of other of my applications.

During all of the handling of the tool assembly 10, namely during loading and unloading, the punch member 11, stripper sleeve 12 and die member 13 are in a nested relation with the die tip 15 in the die aperture 42 thereby rendering it impossible where a noncircular or shaped punch tip is employed to angularly misalign the punch member 11 with respect to the die member 13.

The punch member 11 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 has an integral attachment means 16. The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 includes a stripper sleeve 12a which receives three different punch members 101, 102 and 103 respectively, each having a different size or shape punch tip 104, 105 and 106, respectively. The stripper sleeve 12a is a cylindrical tube 240 which has a stripper plate a, 25b or 250 at one end and at the other end an upper retainer 28a which is an inwardly extending annular flange. The stripper sleeve 12a has an inner wall surface 29a with an enlarged portion or counterbore 32a which has an abutment 33a at the one end. Each of the stripper plates 25a, 25b and 25c has a peripheral flange 107 having an upper abutment surface 108 and a lower abutment surface 109. Each one of the stripper plates 25a, 25b or 25c is held in the counterbore 32a with the abutment 108 in contact with the abutment 33a by a resilient split ring 35a which is received in a groove 37a in the counterbore 32a and engages the abutment 109. The three stripper plates 25a, 25b and 25c illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 each have an aperture 111, 112 and 113 respectively which are each of a size or shape that is complementary to the respective die tips 104, 105 and 106.

The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 35 include the punch drive assembly generally indicated at 61. The housing 63 of the punch drive assembly 61 has a lower portion 72a having a cylindric inner surface or passageway 73a. The

. passageway 73a has a first counterbore 114 and a second counterbore 115 which has an abutment or shoulder 116 and a cylindrical surface 117. The lower portion 72a terminates in a lower surface 75a having a locating groove 76a which extends radially from the second counterbore 1 15.

The punch member 101 has a body portion 118 which terminates in the punch tip 104 and has a shoulder 119 which has an upper abutment 120 and a lower abutment 121. To maintain angular alignment between the punch drive assembly 61 and the punch member 101, a locating pin 23a disposed in a bore 122 in the shoulder 119 is provided and is received in the locating groove 76a of the punch drive assembly 61. Adjacent to the shoulder 119, the body portion 118 has an upper body portion 123 which has a cylindrical surface 124 received in the second counterbore 115 in a sliding fit with the cylindrical surface 117 and has an upper surface 125. The body portion 1 18 has a cylindrical passageway 126 which has a counterbore or enlarged portion 127 adjacent the punch tip 104 to form an internal shoulder or abutment 128.

A separate attachment means generally indicated at 16a includes a cylindrical shaft 130 with a head portion 17a and neck portion 18a formed at one end. The shaft 130 at the other end has an enlargement or head 131 which forms an abutment or shoulder 132. The attachment means 16a is disposed in the passageway 126 with the abutment 132 in contact with the internal shoulder 128. To prevent axial movement of the attachment means 160 in passageway 126, the shaft 130 is provided with a retainer 133 which includes a groove 134 in the shaft 130 receiving a snap ring 135 which engages the upper surface 124 of the punch member 101.

The punch member 101 is nested in the stripper sleeve 12a with the abutments 120 and 121 coacting with the retainer 280 and stripper plate 25a respectively to provide an axial lost-motion connection generally indicated at 20a therebetween. The nested punch member 101 and stripper sleeve 12a are connected to the punch drive assembly by the attachment means 160, with the shaft and the surface 123 received in the cylindrical surface 73a and the second counterbore 115 respectively to provide horizontal alignment between the punch drive assembly 61 and the nested die member 101 and stripper sleeve 12a. The first counterbore 114 of the punch drive assembly 61 provides a space to receive the retainer 133 of the attachment means 16.

The punch member 102 shown in F IG. 4 has a body portion 136 extending into the punch tip 105. The body portion 136 has a first shoulder 137 with a peripheral edge 138, an upper abutment surface 139 and a lower abutment surface 140 and a second shoulder 141, which has an upper abutment 142, on the peripheral edge 138 of the first shoulder 139. The body portion 136 has an upper portion 123a having a cylindrical surface 124a and an upper surface 1250 with a locating pin 23b extending outwardly from the surface 1240. The body portion l3 6 is provided with an axially extending passageway 126a having a counterbore or enlarged portion 127a with an internal abutment or shoulder 128a adjacent the punch tip 105.

Since the punch member 102 has a diameter smaller than the diameter of the inner wall surface 291! of the stripper sleeve 12a, a spacer plate 143 which has an aperture 144 is disposed on the shoulder 137 in contact with the upper abutment 142. The plate 143 extends to the inner wall surface 29:: so that coaction between the lower abutment 140 and the stripper plate 25b and between the retainer 28a, plate 143 and abutment 142 form an axial lost-motion connection, generally indicated at 20b between the stripper sleeve 12a and the punch member 102 nested therein.

An attachment means generally indicated at 16b which has a head portion and neck portion of the same configuration as the head portion 170 and neck portion 18a as shown in FIG. 3, has a shaft l30b which has a threaded bore or socket 145 at the end opposite the head portion. To secure the attachment means to the die member 102, a threaded member such as a bolt 146 which has a head 147 disposed in the passageway 12611 with the head 147 in contact with the shoulder 128a and is in threaded engagement with the bore 145.

The nested punch member 102 and stripper sleeve 12a are connected to the punch drive assembly by the attachments 16b, with the shaft 130a and the surface 123a received in the cylindrical surface 73a and second counterbore 115 respectively to provide horizontal alignment between the punch drive assembly 61 and the nested punch member 102 and stripper sleeve 12a. The locating pin 23b is received in the groove 76a to prevent relative rotation between the punch member 102 and the punch drive assembly 61. The punch drive assembly 61 contacts the punch member 102 on the upper abutment 139 and the upper surface 125a with the surface 750 and abutment 116 respectively to transmit movement to the punch member 102.

As shown in FIG. 5, the punch member 103 has a body portion 150 which has the punch tip 106 at one end. The body portion 150 has a cylindrical surface 151 having an upper surface 152 and a lower abutment surface 153. The cylindrical surface 151 has an annular shoulder 154 having an abutment 155.

A spacer plate 1430 which has an aperture 144a is received on the cylindrical surface 151 and rests on the abutment 155. The spacer plate extends to the stripper sleeve 12a and transfers upward motion from the punch member 103 to the retainer 28a of the stripper sleeve 12a, whereas the lower abutment 153 transfers downward movement of the punch member 103 to the stripper sleeve 12a when nested therein. The coaction between the abutments of the punch member and the stripper sleeve 12a form an axial lost-motion connection, generally indicated at 20c, between the punch member 102 and stripper sleeve 12a. The aperture 144a has an extension 156 to provide clearance for a locating pin 23c extending from the cylindrical surface 151 of the body portion 150.

To connect an attachment means to the punch member 103, the body portion 150 has in the upper surface 152 a bore or socket 157 which has screw threads 158. A shaft l30b of the attachment means has a threaded projection 159 which is threaded into the socket 156. The shaft 13% has a four wrench flats 160 to facilitate the connection between the shaft 130b and punch member 103.

The nested punch member 103 and stripper sleeve 12a are connected to the punch drive assembly 61 by the attachment means with an upper portion 161 of the body portion 150 received in the second counterbore 115. The connection has the upper surface 152 in contact with the abutment 116 and the cylindrical surface 151 of the upper portion 161 in engagement with the cylindrical surface 117 so that the punch drive assembly 61 transmits the punching force by the contact with the upper surface 152 and horizontally guides the nested punch member 102 and stripper sleeve 120 by the engagement of the cylindrical surface 151. To prevent relative rotation between the punch member 102 and punch drive assembly, the locating pin 23c is received in the locating groove 760.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 3-5, three different punch members 101, 102, 103 are associated with the same stripper sleeve 12a and punch drive assembly 61 with the only modification being the use of one of the stripper plates 25a, 25b or 25c to provide an aperture to complement the various punch tips. Since the stripper sleeve 12a and punch drive assembly 61 are the same, any size or shape punch tip up to a maximum size determined by the stripper sleeve 12a can be loaded in a punch press station which is designed to receive the punch drive assembly 61 and stripper sleeve 12a.

Each of the three embodiments illustrated includes a different connection between the attachment means and the punch member. The use of the shaft 130 (shown in FIG. 3) which has a head portion 131 is desirable when a large punch tip such as 104 is used and requires a large force for withdrawing the punch tip 104 from the workpiece. The use of the bolt 145 illustrated in FIG. 4 is desirable where the size of the punch tip 105 would prevent the forming of a large counterbore 127 illustrated in FIG. 3. Since the small punch tip 106 iilustrated in FIG. 5 does not allow the use of a passageway or counterbore such as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a socket 157 with threads 158 and a threaded projection 159 is used to make the connection between the punch member 103 and the attachment means. The three different embodiments for connecting of the attachment means to a punch member shown in FIGS. 3-5 allow the use of punch members of different size with a punch drive assembly of fixed dimensions. The spacer plate 143, 143a allows the use of punch members 102, 103 having a body portion 137, 150 that is less than the inner diameter of the stripper sleeve 12a.

Although various minor modifications might be made or suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to employ within the scope of the patent warranted hereon, all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim:

1. A tool assembly for use in a punch press, comprising:

a. a separate apertured die member;

b. a stripper sleeve having an apertured stripper plate disposed at one end of said sleeve and an annular retainer disposed at the other end of said sleeve; and

c. a punch member having a body portion terminating in a punch tip, said punch member being nestable for storage in said stripper sleeve with said tip extending through the aperture of said plate and into the die aperture, said body portion having annular abutment means encircling the reciprocation axis of the punch member for alternatively abutting against said retainer and said stripper plate to provide an axial lost-motion connection between said punch member and said stripper sleeve.

2. A tool assembly according to claim 1 wherein said die member has an outside size at least as great as the outside size of said stripper sleeve so that during a tool-loading operation, said tool assembly can be inserted as a unit through an aperture at a station of a press in which aperture said die member is to be disposed during use.

3. A tool assembly according to claim 1 wherein the outside size of said die member is greater than the outside size of said stripper sleeve so that during a tool loading operation, said die member is prevented from being moved into an aperture at a station of the press in which aperture said stripper sleeve is to be disposed during use.

4. A tool assembly according to claim 1, wherein said punch member at an end opposite said punch tip has attachment means to axially slidably connect said punch member to a punch drive assembly, said attachment means comprising a head portion and a neck portion of reduced size interconnecting said head portion to said body portion of said punch member.

5. A tool assembly according to claim 4, wherein said head portion is integral with said body portion.

6. A tool assembly according to claim 4, wherein said head portion is on a separate member having a detachable connection with said body portion of said punch member.

7. A tool assembly according to claim 6, wherein said body portion has screw threads and said separate member is in threaded engagement with said screw threads to form said connection.

8. A tool assembly according to claim 6, wherein said connection includes a threaded member extending between said body portion and said attachment means.

9. A tool assembly according to claim 6, wherein said body portion has a passageway extending axially therethrough, said passageway having an enlarged portion extending inwardly from said punch tip and terminating in an internal shoulder, a threaded member having a head portion disposed in said passageway with said head portion engaging said shoulder, said threaded member being in threaded engagement with said attachment means to form said connection.

10. A tool assembly according to claim 6, in which said body portion has a passageway with an enlarged portion adjacent said punch tip to form an internal abutment in said passageway, said attachment means having a shaft portion of a diameter at least as great as that of said head portion, said shaft portion having an enlargement at an end opposite to said head portion, said shaft being disposed in said passageway with said enlargement in said enlarged portion and in contact with said internal abutment, and a retaining means disposed on said shaft adjacent to an upper surface of said punch member to prevent axial movement of said shaft in said passageway and to form said connection.

11. A tool assembly according to claim 10, wherein said retaining means comprises a groove on said shaft, and a resilient ring partially disposed therein.

12. A tool assembly according to claim 4 wherein said head portion has a peripheral cam surface thereon, said cam surface extending inwardly to a size substantially equal to that of said neck portion, said cam surface being directed to move a gripping means of a punch drive assembly outwardly to allow passage of said head portion so that said punch is easily engaged in said punch drive assembly by inserting said head portion into said gripping means.

13. A tool assembly according to claim 1, wherein said punch member includes locating means to orient said punch member angularly about its reciprocation axis with a punch driver assembly of said press.

14. A tool assembly according to claim 1, wherein said retainer includes a separate apertured spacer disposed on said body portion adjacent to said abutment and a shoulder on said sleeve, said spacer extending between said body portion and said retainer shoulder on said sleeve such that said retainer shoulder can contact said spacer to provide the axial lost motion connection in one direction.

15. A tool assembly according to claim 1, wherein said retainer includes an integral inwardly extending flange on said stripper sleeve.

16. A tool assembly according to claim 1, wherein said retainer comprises a groove in an inner surface of said stripper sleeve and a ring partially received therein.

17. A tool assembly comprising:

a. an apertured die member;

b. a stripper sleeve having an apertured stripper face at one end of said sleeve and an annular retainer disposed at the other end of said sleeve; and

c. a punch member having a body portion terminating at one end in a punch tip, said punch member being nestable in said stripper sleeve with said tip extending through the aperture of said stripper face and into the die aperture for joint storage of said tool assembly, said body portion having annular abutment means encircling the reciprocation axis of the punch member for coacting with said retainer, said body portion terminating at the other end in a head portion for sliding axially into and out of locking engagement with holding and driving means.

18. A tool assembly according to claim 17, wherein said retainer includes a separate apertured spacer disposed on said body portion adjacent to said abutment and a shoulder on said sleeve, said spacer extending between said body portion and said retainer shoulder on said sleeve such that said retainer shoulder can contact said spacer to limit relative movement therebetween. 

